Overview
- The girl, who had left a care home in Münster and relies on vital medication, was found at her deaf mother’s apartment in Bochum-Hamme.
- Police say she approached officers with two knives during a search of the flat, where one officer used a Taser and another fired his service weapon.
- She underwent surgery at Bochumer Bergmannsheil and is described by police as critical but stable, while the officers were not injured.
- Investigators are examining whether lethal force was proportionate and how communication was handled given that both the child and her mother are deaf.
- Polizei Essen assumed the case for neutrality, a homicide commission was set up, and the shooter was formally named a suspect and invoked the right to remain silent.